Chapter 818: Deterrence

Manchester United lost Gundogan in this game, and the midfield was greatly affected. However, Mourinho still arranged a 4-3-3 formation, with De Gea as the goalkeeper and Cancelo, Van Dijk, Maguire and Luke Shaw as the back line.

Kante and Bellingham played as double defensive midfielders in the midfield, and Bruno rushed forward.

Rashford, Harry Kane and Mbappe formed the trident in the frontcourt.

Ajax also sent out all the main players.

The goalkeeper was Onana, the back line was Mazraoui, Schuurs, Lisandro and Tagliafico, the three defensive midfielders in the midfield were Gravenberch, Klaassen and Blind, Tadic rushed forward, and the two forwards were young players Kudus and Neres.

Ten Hag's strategy was very clear, and the team pressed forward and attacked at the beginning of the game.

Gundogan was not there, and Ajax wanted to suppress Manchester United from the beginning, using their fast-paced offense to hit the opponent, while also playing the threat of Kudus and Neres, two technical and speed forwards.

Just five minutes into the game, Ajax created a dangerous situation. Blind made a cross, Neres passed it back to the middle, and when Tadic followed up to shoot, he was blocked by Bellingham who was returning to defense and went out of bounds.

But just three minutes later, Ajax got a throw-in on the left. Neres blocked Manchester United's defenders with his body in the penalty area, protected the ball and knocked it back. Kudus made a powerful volley, which was saved by De Gea and went out of bounds.

Three minutes later, Ajax broke through the middle, Tadic was tripped by Mbappe, and Neres got a free kick opportunity, which hit the crossbar directly, making everyone sweat.

The ball hit the crossbar and flew back into the court. Tadic volleyed directly, but failed to suppress the ball and it was too high.

………………

The continuous attack made Ajax very imposing, and Manchester United was suppressed very embarrassedly.

In terms of momentum, Manchester United should obviously pay more attention to defense, or even retreat at this time.

But Mourinho did not let the team do so. Instead, he kept signaling on the sidelines that the midfield should press forward and Kante and Bellingham should press forward instead of retreating.

After the opening defeat, Ajax pressed forward in one go, while Manchester United was defeated step by step. Even the front trident of Rashford, Harry Kane and Mbappe actively returned to defense. Harry Kane even returned to the front of his own penalty area.

This made Mourinho very dissatisfied. He thought that the team retreated too far back, even shrinking in the penalty area, which was quite unfavorable for Manchester United's defense.

Although many people laughed at Mourinho's love of parking the bus, Mourinho knew very well that the team's retreat to the penalty area was a helpless choice. Whenever possible, the opponent must be kept away from the penalty area.

Bruno was very clear about Mourinho's tactical intentions and the team's current situation, so when Rashford, Mbappe and Harry Kane retreated, he still stood at the forefront.

Ajax came out in full force, with two full-backs Mazraoui and Tagliafico active on the wings, but two central defenders Lisandro Martinez and Schulz followed behind, obviously also very afraid of Bruno.

………………

Manchester United did not launch a threatening counterattack until the twelfth minute.

At that time, Mbappe sent a pass on the right and sent the ball directly behind Lisandro. Bruno took advantage of the situation and rushed behind Lisandro at the fastest speed, catching up with the ball on the right side of the penalty area before everyone else.

Lisandro and Schulz also returned to the penalty area in time.

One on two!

Bruno seemed very decisive and rushed directly to Lisandro from the right rib with the ball.

Lisandro did not dare to be careless in the face of Bruno, and his attention was always on Bruno.

But as soon as the two came into contact, Bruno had just entered Lisandro's defense zone. Before the Argentine central defender could react, he suddenly pretended to go down the bottom, and then he dribbled back and passed him.

Lisandro only felt a flash of a figure in front of him, and before he even had time to react, Bruno dribbled the ball inside.

The Argentine central defender did not choose to foul, because there was a Schulz behind him.

But Bruno suddenly accelerated when he cut inside, passed Schulz, and shot with his left foot.

At this time, they suddenly realized that this guy was a famous two-footed balanced player who could shoot high-quality shots with both feet.

Bruno's shot was very urgent and the angle was very tricky. He wanted to hit the lower left corner of the goal directly.

But Ajax goalkeeper Onana also reacted very quickly. He had played against Bruno many times with Ajax and knew Bruno very well, so when he saw Bruno cut inside, he was ready.

The Ajax goalkeeper flew to the side and directly blocked Bruno's shot from the goal, corner kick.

………………

Bruno was not surprised to see the shot was blocked, but twisted his left foot in frustration.

He was not satisfied with his previous shot, because he originally wanted to hit a rebound ball, which would be faster.

But it was obvious that his body was still not in the best condition. Although he still made a good shot, it was still saved by Onana.

Single-handedly, he picked two central defenders and was able to make such a wonderful shot. This was Bruno who was not in an ideal condition, which shocked everyone at the scene.

If he was still in that crazy state, wouldn't the ball have gone in?

Once Manchester United scored, the situation of the game would be completely unfavorable to Ajax.

After being shocked by Bruno's shot, Ajax's offensive had to slow down.

Mourinho quickly made on-the-spot instructions and adjusted the team's tactics, asking Kante, Bellingham and others to press forward, while Rashford, Harry Kane and Mbappe also pressed forward.

The front court and midfield were pressed out, and the back line naturally followed forward.

At the same time, Manchester United strengthened the midfield's pressing pressure, forcing Ajax to take more long passes and go directly to Neres and Kudus.

But because the two forwards left the threatening area, after getting the ball, they lacked the support of the two wings and teammates behind them, causing Ajax's offense to lose its threat.

………………

"Too many long passes. Ajax is not suitable for long passes. Now the midfield cannot get the ball out, but Manchester United has strengthened its defense against Kudus, making it difficult for the Ghanaian striker to hold the ball, forcing Ajax to make more direct long passes to Neres, but the Brazilian striker is not the kind of striker who can hold the ball with his back to the goal..."

The original text can be read on the Six # 9 x-on:Book/Bar!

Davis, who was commentating on the scene, was obviously worried about the current situation of Ajax.

"Tadic should play a bigger role, especially connecting the front line and the midfield. He should make himself more active."

But as he was speaking, Tadic had just got the ball on the court, but was suddenly entangled by Kante and was directly stabbed away again.

"Kante's defensive ability is really excellent, and Mourinho obviously intends to use him to cut off Tadic."

When he said this, Van Persie shook his head and sighed: "We played very well in the first ten minutes, but it's a pity that we didn't score."

Van der Vaart also agreed and said: "Yes, Bruno played very beautifully in the one-on-two just now, which also scared the Ajax defenders. Ten Hag didn't dare to give him such an opportunity again. Because once Ajax loses the ball first, it will be too passive."

Ajax has been eliminated by Manchester United three times in the past four years, so to some extent, Ten Hag's conservatism is also forced by Bruno and Manchester United.

Although no one is willing to admit it, Manchester United's overall strength is indeed much stronger than Ajax.

………………

Facts have proved that when the rhythm of the game is controlled by Manchester United, Ajax players can never adapt.

After the first ten minutes of attack, after Bruno made a sharp counterattack, Ajax players were full of fear of Manchester United's attack and could no longer be as bold as they were at the beginning of the game.

On the other hand, Manchester United steadily pressed forward.

With two defensive midfielders in charge and the formation pressed forward, this is the style of play that Manchester United has always been best at.

The two central defenders maintained a high-position defensive strategy, and the two defensive midfielders cooperated to protect. The two defensive lines made it difficult for Ajax's two forwards Neres and Kudus, as well as the attacking midfielder Tadic, to find space between the two lines of Manchester United's midfield and backcourt.

Without space, there is no short pass penetration, and without short pass penetration, there can only be long passes.

Bruno was not aware that Davis complained about Ajax's excessive long passes during the commentary. He just clearly realized that the team's tactics were working, and Mourinho's master-level tactics were invincible in the Champions League.

This was not Bruno's feeling alone, but the feeling of everyone in the Manchester United locker room.

So, when the team steadily pressed forward and stabilized the situation, it controlled the rhythm, making Ajax play very awkwardly, because they were not used to playing at this rhythm, especially long passes.

Bruno and Manchester United players did not hesitate too much. They followed Mourinho's arrangement and executed the team's tactics.

In this game, Mourinho gave Bruno the task of cruising in the front court and looking for opportunities.

Due to the overall formation pressure, the two full-backs, especially the left-back Luke Shaw, will be closer to the front court. At the moment of switching from defense to offense, he can rush to the front court faster.

When the game reached the 28th minute, Manchester United's right-wing attack failed to threaten and passed the ball to Harry Kane, who knocked the ball back to Bruno.

Bruno passed the ball to the left, and Luke Shaw quickly moved forward along the left side to get the ball and took it forward.

Bruno spotted the opportunity and quickly moved to the middle, leaving the left side to Rashford and Luke Shaw.